“Stay away from it,” he said, according to a transcript. “It’s a mirage basically.”

Mr. Buffett did acknowledge that bitcoin is a promising technology. He called it “a very effective way” of transmitting money, but said that “a check is a way of transmitting money, too.” So are money orders, for that matter, he said.

“I hope bitcoin becomes a better way of doing it,” he said, but “the idea that it has intrinsic value is a joke.”

Mr. Buffett is of course one of the most high-profile names out there, so whatever he says on any topic, from bitcoin to business to the NCAA tournament, is going to get attention. But on this topic, he’s just one voice among the cacophony–and he can’t hold a candle to Conan O’Brien.